Featured
Managing Director Rob Ferris talks to Business Cornwall magazine
Business name: Feritech Global Ltd.
Office location: Leo Cub Industrial Centre, Penryn
When was the business founded: Husband and wife team Rob and Gemma Ferris founded the business in 2012.
How many employees: 14 – a mixture of full and part-time employees with a network of trusted sub-contractors.
Business Cornwall: How is the business best described?
Feritech Global Ltd is a design and manufacturing firm specialising in offshore geotechnical survey equipment – in layman’s terms our equipment takes core and sediment samples of the seabed. We also make winches and Launch and Recovery Systems (LARS) that fully integrate with our survey equipment.  We count some of the world’s largest offshore survey and utilities companies amongst our clients and we send equipment all over the world to be used in seabed surveys for the Oil and Gas, Offshore Wind, Pipeline, Defence, Research, Dredging and Ports and Harbours sectors. Not only do we design and manufacture the equipment, we can also deploy an offshore team to operate it. Ultimately, we are an offshore geotechnical solutions provider.
Business Cornwall: Why was the business founded?
Prior to starting Feritech, my wife Gemma and I had many years’ experience working in the offshore survey sector and found the equipment somewhat lacking. We decided to set up our own business manufacturing geotechnical survey equipment to fill that gap in the market by providing better-designed, safer-to-handle equipment with clear operational advantages. We also wanted to provide equipment that was more cost-effective to operate than our competitors.
Business Cornwall: How does the business compare to competitors in the industry?
We are class leading. We provide truly innovative products that are designed and built by people with offshore experience who fully understand what the environmental and operational challenges are. We are also able to offer our clients bespoke design solutions meaning that they get a truly unique and tailor-made piece of equipment that completely fulfils their brief rather than them having to conform to the restrictions of off-the-shelf products.
 Business Cornwall: What are the business’s plans both short-term and long-term?
At present, we have some planned ongoing improvements to our internal systems and processes, (including a new website on the way) to continually streamline the client experience.
We strive for continuous improvement and innovation of our existing product range whilst we’re also beginning to branch out into other markets and have some really innovative products in the pipeline.
We’re not the type of business or team to want to keep things small, so ultimately, we want to grow the business into a global equipment provider and become the market leader in our field. We want our equipment on every survey vessel conducting an offshore geotechnical seabed survey across the world. We believe that by providing equipment that is safer and more efficient to operate, alongside being more cost-effective, we’ll demonstrate that Feritech is the choice, rather than a choice when it comes to offshore geotechnical survey solutions.
 Business Cornwall: How does the business define success?
I like to keep it simple – if we have a happy, satisfied team and continual year-on-year growth then we will have succeeded. I’ll feel we’ve achieved what we set out to do when we’re not only the leading brand in offshore geotechnical survey equipment, but when we maintain that position indefinitely.
https://www.linkedin.com/company/feritech-limited
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